Bills were surprised Tyree Jackson wasn’t drafted

The Bills have confirmed that they’re in the process of signing Buffalo quarterback Tyree Jackson. They also have confirmed that they didn’t expect Jackson to be available to be signed.

“I truly thought he would be drafted,” Bills G.M. Brandon Beane told reporters Saturday evening. “He was on our draft board to be drafted. I’m surprised. You saw his name still sitting there late in the seventh, and you start going, ‘Man, if this kid doesn’t get drafted, we’re going to have to go after him.’ And we did.”

So what do the Bills like in Jackson?

“He’s got a strong arm and he’s got some mobility,” Beane said. “I think he’s shown improvement and played at the Senior Bowl, it wasn’t too big for him. I think he’s still an ascending player. I know he’s worked on some mechanics with Jordan Palmer. I talked to Jordan for a while here at his Pro Day. It was just asking him some of the things he was working with him on, I don’t want to go into all of it. He thought he was heading in the right direction. Josh [Allen] has been around him out there. I asked Josh about him when I saw him. [Josh] really likes him, I think Josh even let him stay at his house for a little bit of time when he was here. It will be a natural fit. It’s exciting for Sean [McDermott] and I. We really love the UB program and what they’re doing. It’s cool even though we didn’t draft one to be able to bring him here.”

Beane said that the agreement will be finalized after Jackson passes a physical. Then, he’ll begin the competition for a spot on the regular-season depth chart with Derek Anderson and Matt Barkley.

No position is more scrutinized than the QB and the kid wasn’t drafted because he isn’t good enough to make a 53 man roster in the foreseeable future. If you develop him on the practice squad some desperate team will come along and eventually steal him from you. Sometimes I wonder how some of these GM’s have jobs

As a Bills/Bulls fan, I think Jackson got some bad advice. I like Jackson, but I definitely think he would have benefited from another year in college. He has some things going for him, but also a lot of negatives he could have worked on with one more year in school. We’ll see if NFL coaching can correct those flaws.

Oh boy, here we go again, Bills just won the offseason already. The kid has strength and can scramble but no accuracy, consistency, smarts or mechanics. He only got listed as a poss 5th rd because it’s a relatively very thin draft for QBs. That said, no harm picking him up UDFA and working with him to see if enough flaws can be ironed out to give a practice squad spot.

This young man was given some terrible advice as to foregoing his last year and entering the draft. Whoever was his chief adviser cost Tyree millions of dollars potentially! I’m not sure what type of evaluation he received but surely he was told he wouldn’t be a first or second round pick! He may well have been a top 15 first rounder next year, glad the Bills signed him on.

He won’t make the 53 man roster. Barkley is the backup, Anderson the mentor. Tyree can be practice squad guy and move up when Allen has enough experience that he doesn’t need a mentor.
Or he can go line up with the TEs and has the tools to be a Pro Bowl caliber player.

I’m surprised he went undrafted, but for a lot of late-round prospects, it works out better for him to choose where to sign instead of getting drafted by a team where he may not have the best opportunity. By signing with the Bills, he gets to stay in Buffalo (where he’s already popular), and the Bills should have no problem putting him on the practice squad until Anderson is ready to retire (again).

Saw him play against Eastern Michigan last year. The dude is Huge and athletic, great deep ball. His mechanics are a concern. Ironically, he sucks at the quick short throws just like Josh Allen. He would make a great scout team “Josh Allen” tbh.